Zimbabwe

Makayne and I arrived in Zimbabwe one week ago with a plan to only stay for one day, one week later, we are still here. If you do any research, you will have a hard time reading anything positive at all about Zimbabwe. If you visit Zimbabwe, you will have a hard time not having anything but a positive experience. You may know about the president, whose name we can't even say here, much less discuss. He has been accused by nearly every human rights organization of violating his people, being corrupt, and basically taking over the government as a dictator. Or you may be familiar with the economic crisis where inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998, to an official estimated high of 11,200,000% in August 2008. I remember seeing on the news people fleeing the country because there was no food in the grocery stores. Teachers go on strike because of low pay, students unable to concentrate because of hunger and the price of uniforms soaring making this standard a luxury. By the end of November 2008, three of Zimbabwe's four major hospitals had shut down. Those hospitals still open are not able to obtain basic drugs and medicines. Zimbabwe now has one of the lowest life expectancies on Earth – 44 for men and 43 for women, down from 60 in 1990. The rapid drop has been ascribed mainly to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The downward spiral of the economy has been attributed mainly to mismanagement and corruption by the government and the eviction of more than 4,000 white farmers in the controversial land redistribution of 2000. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force released a report in June 2007, estimating 60% of Zimbabwe's wildlife has died since 2000 due to poaching and deforestation.

Despite all of this, we have been unable to leave Zimbabwe. Day one, just about a week ago now, Makayne and I were walking down the street and a huge group of baboons were in our way, we stopped, somewhat freaked out, until we met Farai, laughing at us, he scared away the baboons, and we started some conversation. Farai has since become something of a big brother to us, or as he says, "we are his sister from another mister". The next day, after doing our gorge swing (similar to bungee jumping) and elephant back safari, which by the way, was incredible, we woke up to find Farai nearby, he invited us to BBQ at the bar near our lodge. Well, that was the start of our adventure and our mission once again to be more than tourists was in full swing. The butcher shop in town was closed so we hopped in the car with also our second friend we have met now, Knowledge (who works at the information center funny enough) and we are on our way winding through rural neighborhoods and townships, when I am standing at the counter, staring at stacks of raw meat, surrounded by black men, and being asked what type of meat I want and how much, I can only laugh, when I look to Farai for help, he tells me, "you are more than a tourist, you can do it." I order the meat, guessing how many kilograms three men and my sister and I can eat, we go back to the bar, Farai disappears and comes back with avocados, onions, tomatoes, apples, banannas, and soda, and before we know it we are seated at the bar with a huge plate of food in front of us and an orange Fanta to drink. From that first night on, every night, Farai and his friends, Knowledge, and also Pace, who we would meet that same night, have cooked and served us dinner each evening. But more than that, they have become like our brothers. Zimbabwe is a place that some people may not feel safe in but I have seen no reason for that, in fact, I have never felt unsafe, but maybe that is because of Farai, Knowledge, and Pace. When they take us around and show us a bar or restaurant outside of town, they sit up high at the bar and are always looking around, Farai even holds our purses for us and makes us walk to the bathroom together, when we go somewhere without telling him, he asks where we are going, if we look hot, he gets us cold water, if he notices we are slapping mosquitoes, he gets the bar man to go get us spray, if we have leftover food, he asks someone on the street to put it in their refrigerator for us, he puts new music on our ipod, he tells us what to do culturally and what not to do, if someone on the street tries to sell us something or bothers us, he yells at them. When we went to Victoria Falls, he held our stuff and insisted on taking a million pictures of us (for your mother to see). Last night, when we told Pace that our mom mentioned we should stay longer here if we are enjoying it, he seriously offered to email her and let her know that we are being taken care of, this was right after he had filled up our plates with more food and told us we needed to eat more so when we go home everyone can tell we were taken care of. They say that in their culture, they cannot say no to a woman and if she needs something they must take care of her because women remind them of their mothers. Farai means happy and Pace is short for Perseverance, and Knowledge, well ask him anything about the city and he will know. Pace works at one of the nicer hotels doing financial work, Farai brings in tourists off the street to local adventure booking offices.

Our typical day in Zimbabwe has been to wake up, shower, eat breakfast at the restaurant in our lodge, swim, walk down the street to the information center and see what plans Knowledge has for us for the day, or if we take too long, Farai comes and gets us at our lodge, then we walk around town, wash clothes, go to the store, and meet up at the bar for dinner. Sometimes after dinner we go out to a few different places and this has been especially fun because the music is so great and we have gotten to know so many locals. Tonight we are going to Pace's home for a traditional dinner where we will even get to eat some Mopane Worms! This afternoon we are walking to Victoria Falls hotel, it is hundreds of years old and where all of the famous and rich stay. On Saturday we are going to a concert, and on Sunday a soccer game. Since being here, we have had the chance to go to an amazing Reggae concert where bands from all over southern Africa came to perform, we rode elephants, swung down a gorge, have gotten so tan by the pool, have had amazing food, have had powerful conversations, have gotten to see different lodges, went to a soccer game in a National Park, see wildlife all over the sides of the road at all hours, have meet so many amazing people, have experienced so much culture, have had a fun time going out, and have fallen in love with Victoria Falls. The reception at our lodge have given us a discount on our room and everyday make bets about how long we will extend our stay next.

The people here are kind, the music is good, the weather is warm, the accommodations are comfortable, the sights are beautiful, we have fallen in love with the small town on the edge of Zambia and not far from Botswana. Victoria Falls is a place I will never forget and will be very sad to leave.